http://www.marketwatch.com/story/full-text-of-president-obamas-oil-spill-speech-2010-06-15By MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Following is the full text of President Barack Obama's Oval Office address about the BP PLC oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. energy policy:
Good evening. As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges. At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American. Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists. And tonight, I've returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we're waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens.
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First, the cleanup.
From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation's history - an effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost forty years of experience responding to disasters. We now have nearly 30,000 personnel who are working across four states to contain and cleanup the oil. Thousands of ships and other vessels are responding in the Gulf. And I have authorized the deployment of over 17,000 National Guard members along the coast. These servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, clean beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims - and I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible.
Now, compare and contrast that to this story and the comments of Robert Gibbs
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/24/earlyshow/main6513824.shtmlROBERT, La., May 24, 2010
BP or U.S.: Who's In Charge Here?
Exec Says Company Is Doing Everything Possible to Stop Oil Leak But That Feds Have "Ultimate Control of This Event"
By David S Morgan
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Last Friday White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was hammered by reporters asking about the government's responsibility and its oversight of BP's response to the spill.
Gibbs disputed an assertion that the government has "stood there and hoped for the best" when it came to BP's response, yet hedged when asked why the federal government had asked BP for data about the leak instead of ordered them to disclose it. Gibbs seemed to suggest that the government couldn’t do that with a private company - at least not one that wasn't in receivership.
Gibbs said that under a 1990 law, BP is responsible, and the government is simply assisting.
"They're responsible for the cleanup, and they have to pay for it," Gibbs said at his press briefing Friday. The government, he said, is just "overseeing the response."
This is why there's so little confidence in the response of either BP or the Government as they toss the responsibility hot potato around.
My questions to the President:
*Thad Allen might have forty years of responding to disasters (hurricanes, sea rescues, etc.), but is he the right guy to be in charge (if he is) of the largest ENVIRONMENTAL clean-up and disaster in our history?
A sidecomment about the use of language:
*"We
now have 30,000 personnel" "Thousands of ships and other vessels
are responding in the Gulf"
"These servicemen and women
are ready to help" and I urge the governors in the affected states
to activate these troops as soon as possible.
The use of the present tense and even future tense as opposed to the past tense this many days after the onset of the spill speaks subliminally to me of admitting to a slow response time, perhaps unconsciously. His speech writers could have done a much better job.